Over $80 million approved for climate initiatives in Bangladesh, Georgia and Zambia

Posted on February 28, 2018

Over $80 million approved for climate initiatives in Bangladesh, Georgia and Zambia

Photo: UNDP in Zambia

Songdo, Republic of Korea, 27 Feb – The Green Climate Fund (GCF) approved three new climate change adaptation project proposals developed through interagency partnerships led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its board meeting this week.

The proposals mobilize more than US$80 million in funding from the GCF for climate resilience initiatives in Bangladesh, Georgia and Zambia. With co-financing agreements in place that leverage resources from national governments, UNDP and other sectors, the projects will catalyze more than US$239 million toward climate resilience efforts in these three nations.

In Bangladesh, the new project will provide assistance to 25,000 women and girls to adopt resilient livelihoods, while ensuring reliable, safe drinking water for 130,000 people through community-managed rainwater harvesting solutions.

In Georgia, the project will scale-up early warning systems and climate information services to protect lives from fast-acting floods and insulate the nation from the economic shocks that changes in climate patterns can bring.

In Zambia, a country where climate impacts threaten to derail efforts to reduce hunger, malnutrition and poverty, the new GCF-financed project will support nearly 1 million farmers in building more climate resilient lives.

The projects, implemented by their respective governments, will be supported by the UN System, including UNDP, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

“By supporting countries to mobilize partnerships between the Green Climate Fund, important sectors of civil society, and the broader UN System, UNDP is serving as a broker to connect vulnerable nations with the resources, capacity and tools they need to build low-carbon climate-resilient development,” notes Adriana Dinu, Director, Global Environmental Finance, UNDP. “This will facilitate efforts to achieve climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, as well as make progress against the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.”

With the approval of the three new projects, UNDP has supported a total of 17 countries to access more than US$500 million in GCF finance for full-sized climate change projects. Since the GCF’s inception, UNDP has received more than 80 formal requests from Nationally Designated Authorities to support the development of funding proposals, and to provide readiness and preparatory support as a delivery partner. To date, 21 Readiness and National Adaptation Plans proposals supported by UNDP have been approved by the Executive Director of the GCF Secretariat, totaling US$11 million in additional support for climate change adaptation planning for 17 countries worldwide.

“The approved projects touch on issues related to food security, access to water, and resilient infrastructure,” said Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, the Head of Climate Change Adaptation, UNDP. “This is a clear demonstration that climate action is critical to advancing and securing development gains.”